Oriental tobacco, particularly Turkish tobacco, is characterized by small leaf size (typically six inches long and three inches wide). The Oriental tobacco leaves in a bale of tobacco are typically stacked, then tied with reinforcing string, and finally covered with burlap. The loops of reinforcing string are spaced apart and substantially parallel to one another. The loops are tied transverse to the direction that the tobacco leaves are laid in the stack. The bales covered in this manner are then shipped to manufacturers for use in the production of the tobacco products. The manufacturers that receive the covered bales must be able to remove the burlap and reinforcing string in an expeditious manner to maintain ordinary production line speeds for the efficient production of tobacco products containing these leaves.
There are several methods for removing the burlap and reinforcing string currently being practiced. One method is to manually cut both the outer burlap covering and the plurality of loops of reinforcing string to uncover the underlying bale of Oriental tobacco leaves. This method has the disadvantage of being extremely slow for production line use. When enough men are used to satisfy the production line needs, this method has the disadvantage of being an extremely inefficient use of manpower.
Another method currently practiced is to use a large circular saw to cut through the entire bale. In this method, the covered bales of Oriental tobacco leaves are fed to the saw with the loops of reinforcing string disposed transverse to the plane of the saw blade. The saw cuts the entire bale in half, cutting the burlap and loops of reinforcing string along with the bale itself. The burlap and loops reinforcing string are then manually removed from the separate halves of Oriental tobacco bales.
The use of the saw to cut through the bale, the burlap, and loops of reinforing string has several disadvantages. For example, when the saw cuts through the bale the tobacco leaves in the path of the saw blade are also cut which is undesirable. Also when a circular saw is used fragments, particles and/or fibers of the reinforcing string and the burlap contaminate the tobacco leaves near the cut. These fragments, particles, and/or fibers can ultimately end up in finished tobacco products which is extremely undesirable.
The present invention provides a process for removing the burlap and loops of reinforcing string covering a bale of Oriental tobacco leaves which does not have the above addressed disadvantages.